Cometh before Fall
by Sylvarflaeme
Summary: Given the chance at a new life, will pride and fears destroy any chance at happiness for all? Will the wounds of the past be reopened to destroy the peace so many have fought to bring about?
1. Prologue: Beginning of the End

A/N: Saaa...okie...this is my first foray out into the world of fanfiction in close to four years...blame the wonders of roleplaying...^_^ Alas...Luc and his story however has caught my atttention and rattled my muses awake once more. This is just a prologue mind you, a teaser if you will, to test the waters and see if I should bother slaving over this ficcie if it utterly bites. ^_^ So thus I put forth this question, should I continue to set it on the shelf along with many other things in my meandering life?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Cometh before Fall: The beginning of the End  
  
Cold.....he was cold...frozen and icy as he tried to keep his eyes open, tried to continue staring up into silver lashed luminous seas of crystalline blue. How she had found him, he had no idea, but somehow this brave soul trapped within such a fragile form had found her way through the crumbling ruins to reach his side once more. He was dying, he knew that...or at least as close to dying as one such as he could come. He had to tell her to go...had to free her so that she wouldn't suffer his fate as well...she was an innocent...not a corrupted and twisted person like himself.  
  
"These ruins will collapse...Sarah, you must escape. You are free to go" It took all of his willpower to get those words to pass his lips as his breath grew more ragged and pained in his chest. It was hard to attempt to order her from his side one last time, especially when she held him of so gently in her arms, the soft scents of her, a heady mixture that was purely Sarah, making it impossible to think clearly.  
  
She shook her head slowly, those pale silvered-blond strands dancing about her jawline as she looked away, a far off look shimmering in expressive depths. "No, I'll stay. I chose to follow you and let a million people die. I must be punished for this." She finally whispered after a long moment, a small eternity of silence that left him breathless and on the brink of darkness. It began to ebb about his senses, closing in to grey his vision and slowly wrap himself in it's darkness.  
  
"Sarah......" The world faded away for him then, blackness enwrapping him in it's velvety wings draw him back into ebon pools that he found oh so hard to try and swim free of. It would be so easy to simply let go right now and just drift back into eternity, forget all of the pains and sorrows he'd known and simply refuse to face the harshness of reality forever. But he couldn't ignore the silvery pull he felt just beyond the darkness of his closed eyes. It began with the soft waft of scent...Her scent....and then the pillowing warm of something resting beneath his head as soft arms wrapped about him. And then....a softly whispered sentence that snapped him fully back into awareness.  
  
"I was living in that palace all alone. No one cared for me, even though they were after my power." Her words were quiet, musing as her tone took on a pained note, her words raw with remembered pain as sharp as crystalline shards. "Only you..." She whispered softly, feathered lashes veiling those soft grey-blue depths for a moment as they fanned across those pale cheeks to hide the traitorous shimmer of tears that burned in her eyes.  
  
"I might have been after your power, too..."His quiet words were almost drowned out by the soft, distant rumble of the ruins collapsing about them...it was a wonder neither of them felt the urge to attempt to flee from this slowly crumbling death, perhaps they were both tired of fighting the inevitable. One gloved hand dared to rise to trace a path he'd considered a thousand times across her cheek as he stared up at her. Those pale emeralds, despite his words were all too serious and oddly open as his fingers froze just mere fractions of an inch from her cheek as if he dare not truly touch her.  
  
"It doesn't matter. I chose you because you brought me joy. I must accept my punishment..." He felt the soft warmth of her hand as she covered his with her own, guiding a softly trembling hand to her cheek to finish the act he had started. He could read her emotions all too clearly now, the unfailing love she'd harbored for him and the silent suffering it had brought with it. Worry and a sad, tired sorrow mixed with those soft love in Sarah's eyes as she stared down at him, her warm cheek pressing comfortingly into his gloved hand.  
  
Oh how he wished he still had the strength to pull that damned sheath off if only for one chance to caress; to explore the soft contours of that delicate visage even as her words filled his tired, dying heart with a soft glow of happiness...and of a regretful sorrow for a chance they would never have. A chance wasted in pride and sheer stubborn stupidity and a refusal to acknowledge anyone but himself in his miserable little world. And now.....it was too late.... "But..Still, you should..." P She nuzzled her cheek into his hand, her skin sliding along the leather in a soft motion, rousting him from his silent reverie to look up at her with hazed, glassy emeralds. His voice rose once more in a pained whisper, her name slipping past his lips to hover in the air between them in a silent plea to flee...to live. "Sarah....."  
  
His world centered in on those tear-filled pale blue eyes, his entire focus turning toward the reflection of himself in crystalline seas and he was surprised to find an answering shimmer shining in oddly alien pale emeralds. He had never truly given his appearance much though but to his shock, he saw a vulnerable boy staring back at him. Then it was over, those pale lashes falling once more to mask those mirror like eyes and his head fell back into the soft warmth of her lap as yet more of the light drained from glass-green eyes.  
  
"I sincerely thank you, Sarah...My soul will be healed. I'm convinced now that I too have a soul of my own..." He murmured, the words not really registering much anymore in his mind as he simply rambled on, half-lost in the world of light and of shadow. crystalline eyes snapped open at his words and those hazed emeralds slowly found their way back to hers to stare at that tearful visage. With one last shuddering sigh, his physical form, the shell used to simply house a True Rune, breathed it's last breath before going still. The ruins continued to crumble about them, the cracking of the stones bringing about the inevitable end to the tragic pair.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
She knew when he returned of course, he'd always seemed able to fill the dark emptiness of her tower with his very presence and lifeforce; even in death it was no different. The dark maiden stood poised as still and silent as a statue, her long mane of rich midnight dark hair cascading down toward the cold floor underfoot. She of course could not see the brilliant wash of light as the glowing spirit floated into her tower though she knew it was Luc all the same.  
  
Sorrow tinged with a saddened resignation flowed through her as that beautiful visage rose, unseeing eyes forever masked by dark crescents. "So, you've returned...." She murmured quietly, that low voice was deep and fathomless as the depths of space. It never betrayed what she truly felt or thought, though perhaps a soft sheen of the pain she felt at her apprentice's tragic end glowed through the deliberately distant mask that reigned over her features. He was unable to question her though she heard his silent cries as surely as she heard her own breath all the same. "That is fine. I will answer you if I see anything with these sightless eyes. The wheel of destiny is heavy for a man to turn, but it's not impossible. I'm the executor of the Balance...I have no tears to shed..."  
  
How she wished she could, but the years had sapped away at her humanity, the horrors of the world blinding her to the pain of reality more thoroughly then even the loss of her sight. The lightly bobbing sphere wavered in front of her, it's agitation obvious as the faint green veined through the brilliant white light pulsed softly, but alas for Luc, she was not finished quite yet. " Luc, you challenged God like a fool. You disregarded a million lives with a cursed soul, but I forgive you and bless you. You're human, too. I bless your soul." She paused then, the soft shift of sorrow flashing across her face to shatter the perfect, glacial mask for an instant before her features tightened, that low voice becoming slightly choked with emotion.  
  
"My apprentice, my son, child of a cursed rune, you're a human child. One that can sleep now. Even though Destiny can be brutal, it will allow you to rest, one hundred and eight stars will bless you. Man is powerful enough to change destiny." Her face turned slightly, unseeing eyes turning toward the second light that appeared to float beside the other one, her other child. There was no mistaking the way the twin lights moved together to draw closer both to her and to each other. "No matter how futile our struggles seem, they all make a difference!"  
  
The lights finally drew almost within touching distance to the blind seer and through she was unable to see the sudden sharpening of the light in the room, she could see in her mind's eye the outline of her two charges. Bathed in soft white light and standing shoulder to shoulder, the pair stood, fingers twined together for just the briefest flashes of a second before it was gone and she was once more cast into darkness. As the two lights floated out the window, a soft comet's trail of glittering lights floated behind them, twining together as they made a slow circle about the tower before drifting off to the stars above.  
  
The blind seer made no move to stop them or the call out to the departing souls for she knew the wheel would turn once more and that perhaps fate wasn't done quiet yet. Sarah and Luc had been the brief, brilliant lights that had lit her life and tower all too briefly, gifts such as their's could not be bound by mere death of a physical body after all. No...time would tell....they would all have to see..... 


	2. Chapter One: A Chance At New Beginnings?

An eternity of peace surrounded him as he floated warmly in golden seas that filled his very soul and being until all that was left was the glorious light. He was gone, floating up wards into eternity to be lifted into the heavens on soft wings that would carry him past even eternity and time to a new world beyond all.  
  
But then....it began....just a soft whisper at first, the faintest caress of coolness...and then slowly...inexorably...he was draw downward. Away from the light and the warmth in such a way that he found himself unable to even put up the weakest of struggles as he was pulled back toward the coldness of the world, his floating soul entrapped once more in the chains of mortality. The thousand sensations and knowledges he'd barely even had a chance to sample seeped away, leaving him feeling inadequate and cut off. But even that faded away as his senses dulled, the limited human perception thankfully unable to comprehend such things and thus letting them go.  
  
When he was ready to awaken once more, he'd been born anew with no memories of the light and of the wonders of the world beyond. Instead his first sight was of cold grey stone high overhead, it's mortar long disused and cracking free in places. There was a weight pressing down on his body, a pitiful warmth given off by a weak fire cracking beside him...not that he knew what a fire was afterall.  
  
Cold was one of the first things he learned, the chill wash of the drafts filling this grey room a constant nagging reminder that kept interrupting his confused thoughts as they bumbled and jumbled about in his mind. The object that he would later come to know as a blanket offered little warmth against the drafts and in his shivering, he found he could even move the long, gangling limbs that extended beyond his body so that he might curl into a fetal little ball under the covers. It gathered a pool of warmth about him and he experienced his first feather-light touches of pleasure at the silken caress of finely made sheets across his skin and the way that the warmth slowly spread through his limbs.  
  
He didn't know how long he curled there, the concept of time unfathomable to him as he lay there studying his surroundings, for like a child he was curious and in awe with every new thing he learnt or felt. But he was drawn from his silent thoughts at the unexpected grating sounds of the door being opened. He was still marveling over how the unnamed object could do such a thing when she stepped in. Wide, surprised emeralds grew wide as he caught his first look at the odd moving object. His feeble, child's mind held no real conscious thought or comprehension as the dark haired woman strode on silent feet across the floor to approach the bed.  
  
".......I am pleased to see that you've finally awakened....." The woman murmured softly, dark lashes fanned across pale cheeks and he jumped like an animal, a shimmer of wild, animalistic fear glittered in his eyes as he curled away from her. A look of pained chagrin flashes across her face as she grew a chair up beside the bed. He lay there warily watching her as he tried to puzzle out just what she was. He'd seen the gangling extensions to his own body and even he hadn't missed the similar share he and she held...but then she was speaking again, shattering what small trains of thoughts he'd been able to piece together.  
  
"I realize you must be confused right now so please pay attention so that I might help you to understand what is happening to you...." Her voice was the same soft murmur though a note of testiness had tread its way through it. But even she, a person that had tried for so long to keep all others at a distant, could not really be cruel to such a wide-eyed, confused looking creature. "My name is Leknaat...." At his blank look of confusion, a soft smile tinged with amusement curved the blind seer's lips. "Worry not young one...here you will be safe...between myself and this....you will understand all in time...." A pale hand had extended to gently grasp his own, surprisingly rough fingertips tracing the outline of a design he hadn't noticed before...what....was that?  
  
Unconsciously, his brows had knit together in a small frown and he peered closer at the marking laid upon his hand. It's gently arching edges curled in a sleek, barbed circle as those tri crescent shaped markings gathered to form what he would later come to know, much to his dismay, as the True Wind Rune. But for now he could not even articulate the questions running through his mind and he was simply reduced to looking up at the woman in confused silence.  
  
"It's a rune.....it allows you to touch upon the very wind and air that surrounds you....but...come now that is all for later, for now you must rest and learn" At the sudden rumble from his tummy, his body at least betraying what *it* knew of hunger, she smiled faintly and nodded. "And eat....yes you must indeed eat..." It was perhaps a small blessing that she was unable to see the confused youths next actions as he lifted the blankets and sheets to peer in wide-eyed surprise at his own body. Though he didn't not know it, hunger had been gnawing at him for hours now and with a slightly consternated look, he poked at the pale flesh where the rumble had been birthed in a clear motion to say "be quite!"  
  
He did not recognize the silvery peals of sound that came form Leknaat as laughter when she stood in a soft swirl of hair and pristine robes, all he knew was that it was a pleasant sound that drew his attention back to her. "Oh most certainly food....I shall be but a few minutes....." She took the time to build up the fire once more, strong, capable hands finding the flaggering flames and feeding a steady stream of sweet hardwood until the all but lifeless flames were crackling and popping merrily. Almost immediately, some of the chill in the room was sapped away and he was engulfed in the sweet sensations of warmth once more. She said nothing more as she left the room, that long mane of glorious midnight hair falling almost to the floor in a sleek fall of thick silk as it whispered and shifted across her slender back to pool with the hem of her robes behind her.  
  
The door was left askew and to the confused youth she seemed to reappear almost instantly, carrying a tray heavily laden with foods that smelt wonderful even to his untrained nose though in later times he'd come to realize just how plain a fare his meal had been. But the hot, fresh bread, sweet with honey and the flavorful cheese and chilled fruits was most tempting indeed, enough so to waken his tummy once more to growl and grumble threateningly. And thus was he faced with a problem...he had no idea what to do with these sweet smelling things she'd brought with her upon her arrival and he stared at the trey in confusion.  
  
It's food...you eat it...." She could not help the bubble of amusement that flowed through her as she reached to break the bread, tearing the soft substance into edible piecea. She'd had the foresight to slice the cheese before hand and soon enough a healthy sized chunk had been nestled within the dark bread. She demonstrated how to eat it by chewing it carefully before trying to swallow. His attempts were amusing and comical, yet oddly endearing as she looked on with growing warmth at his stumbling attempts at dinner. He would learn in time, swiftly no doubt knowing him and she would be here to help him. How long had it been since she'd seen such an open, delighted look on his face? Too long indeed....for long infact that she couldn't remember him ever looking so blissfully open and happy. Thus was this decision that had half been forced upon her both a blessing and a curse...for she wanted her old apprentice back...wanted the chance to make up for mistakes of the past...but on the other hand....she was affraid that he would simply relive his life as before and follow the same path that would lead to his destruction..  
  
"Tomorrow we'll begin your lessons and get you outfitted for clothes. I fear I threw out all of your old wardrobe long ago..." She trailed off, a pained expression crossing her face as a soft sigh rose to play across her lips. She didn't have to see to know he'd stopped eating, a questioning look of confusion on his face and she simply shook that long cascading head of dark hair. "Nevermind....we'll cover all this later....for now we'll start with the basics and work out way up, hmmn....?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
And thus did his learning begin anew, it was months before he intellectually what he was before. Leknaat had been right in her assumption that he would learn quickly, for he soaked up knowledge like a sponge soaked up water. When he'd first relearned to talk, the word "why" had been his first question....that should have clued her then and there but after a month of his constant stream of questions, she'd stepped up his education on reading and writing and had simply let him free in her library.  
  
Now why would a blind person keep a library some might ask? Only those few ignorants who did not realize that she had not always been blind would of course ask such a question, and none daring to do so to her face. Not that the knowledges contained in those tomes were never truly lost from her, especially in the good days when her Luc had been at her side. It had been his eyes she'd used, the words conveyed on that smooth tenor to break many a dark night by their fireside and now that she had him back again, they spent many a pleasent evening discussing both the politics and various histories of the lands as well as more light and pleasent coversations that helped both to while the often lonely and desolate nights away.  
  
She'd struggled long and hard over what to call him at first, for the name "boy" did not suit him nor his station in life. Finally, simply accepting that one could not hide from the past by ignoring it, she'd settled on his old name...Luc...it was a good name despite the horrible direction he had taken in his previous life. That was the past and for whatever reasons, she'd felt the pull from beyond and had known that his time on this plane was no over quite yet...neither of them were.  
  
And so he spent his first few years in complete, ignorant bliss of what atrocities he'd wrought upon the world and it was not until the stirrings of his run started that he began to remember. At first he had begun with dreams, terrible vibrant nightmares that left him chilled and sweating in his bed; a scream frozen in his throat. The visions confused him, scared him and left him with an odd feeling of dread and anguished sorrow. Images and faces stayed with him throughout the daylight hours even, haunting his ever waking moment. Who was the girl...the pale, delicate figure that seemed to have been wrought from snow and a wintry sky? Whenever her thought of her, a empty feeling filled him, a sense of incompletion.  
  
And who was the young man who bore features so similar that they could have been related? And why did thinking of him fill him with a confusing mixture of resentment and kindred affinity? There were more images that haunted his mind, the dreadful figure of a ethereally formed man that was as cold and insane as winter's snow in his stark black clothing. He spun nightmares in those bicolor eyes just by peeking out from beneath the low brim of his hat and Luc knew that death sang truly and bloodied along the keen lines of those quicksilver swords.  
  
The sardonic eyes of the redhaired man that floated through his dreams was what finally drove him to seek out Leknaat's council on these touchy manners. That holier-then-thou smile and look of all knowing arrogance incensed him for some reason and it was with a black heart that he sought out the seeress in her austere tower room. "Leknaat.....?" He queried softly as he paused in the doorway of the room. The profound emptiness of this solar always send a shiver up his spin, the sheer amount of energy radiating from the very stonework causing his hairs to stand on end as he dared to step two feet past the doorway.  
  
"Can I talk to you....?" Those clear green eyes darted around warily as he cleared his throat, a sure sign of his nervousness. His anxious attitude was only all the more betrayed as he scratched at the rune mark on his hand, the skin seemingly to tingle in response to the magick filling the air. "Downstairs? It's time for lunch anyway...!" He hastily inserted, knowing all too well that Leknaat was aware of how much her tower room effected him. It was his own pride that demanded he not appear like a total coward to her by asking to hide away from this room like a child.  
  
She turned gracefully towards him in a soft whisper of dark hair, a small smile gracing pale lips as she nodded in agreement. Certain things stood unspoken between them, Luc's dislike of this room one of many that she couldn't quite force herself to talk of with him quite yet. "Yes...that would be lovely, thank you for reminding me, Luc..." Though she were blind, the pale maiden had no trouble making her way across the sparsley appointed room, the hooded robes she wore whispering with that impossibly long banner of hair as she placed each foot in front of the other gracefully. "What would you like to talk about today?" The tower door was eased close behind them and she looped her arm through Luc's extended one so that they could make their careful, slanted descent towards the kitchens at the base of the tower.  
  
"I......I'm keep having these dreams...horrible....terrible dreams...." He didn't know how else to start, the confusing jumble of emotion coloring his tone and thickening his words with the sheer depth of it all. "They're terrible, Leknaat....I keep seeing myself and these other people and we're hurting others...we're killing them!" At his side, Leknaat had gone still, her slight form almost being pulled forward by his unthinking grip on her arm as she froze in her tracks. If possible, that pale face grew more ashen and bloodless before crumpling into a pained mask for a moment.  
  
"You......you must tell me more of this...tell me all that you've seen, Luc....spare no details in this...we must figure out just how much is truly being revealed in these dreams of yours...  
  
He nodded and shakily began to recount the dreams of the various people, of the grey lifeless world...of the young woman who was the last thing he remembered and of the oddly ashen and black haired youth who, in those horrific dreams, killed him. "I don't understand....what's going on, Lahknaat.....?" Open confusion glittered in those translucent emeralds, the pained uncertainty and fear oh so bright and pleading for answers. The blind seeresss's head bowed downward, those silken black locks falling about her face to cast delicate features into shadow.  
  
"These dreams of your's....I.....I believe....I believe that they are memories...memories of your life before...." His look of confusion betrayed his lack of understanding as he peered at her from beneath a jagged fringe of pale brown hair. "The rune on your hand....it's a true rune....it carries on the memories of it's previous owners and I think it's revealing what happened before to you....the people you were describing...one was Sarah....she was a sweet girl..."  
  
"...was....?" There was a definite note of hesitation in that low tenor voice, those arching brows drawing together in a small frown over those suddenly dark and hazed emeralds. Leknaat simply smiled sadly, shaking her head in a soft manner as a low of regret flashed across those ethereal features. Her next words were soft and pained with remembered sorrow as the regretful pain of their passing rose anew in her mind.  
  
"You know the answer even without asking me, Luc." Came her softly chiding remark, those soft lips tightening to a grim, solemn line. "....she died with you....when everyone else abandoned you...she stayed....I found your bodies later and...." Her words were abruptly broken off, that ethereal face tightening as her head averted from him so that dark cascade fell forward to cast her face into shadow.  
  
"There's more....." He murmured quietly, eyes suddenly intent and one pale hand extended to touch her shoulder and she nodded solemnly. A sigh rose in her throat to shudder through her body as she straitened, a hint of that iron will glinting through her genteel surface as she continued.  
  
"Yes....when we brought you back....we brought her back as well....it was in my vision....." Her voice was low and even as her face turned toward the low crackle of the fire. "Though she was cloned as you were...she was reborn as a chid...you will remain the same age as when you died because of your rune...."  
  
"S.....She's alive...." He breathed those worse softly, a world of uncertainty glittering in those emerald depths as he looked to Leknaat. The dark maiden nodded slowly, that serene composure, so often mistaken for haughty ice, never breaking. "Where is she? You haven't kept her here that's for certain...."  
  
"No...she....." Her voice finally faltered and she paused to choose her words as carefully as she could. "She....is in Harmonia...." 


	3. Chapter Two: New Beginnings and New Frie...

It was so peaceful and beautiful in the Crystal Valley for the Holy Kingdom of Harmonia had for a brief moment in time found it self at general peace with the world around them. The defeat of the mad sorcerer Luc and his followers had bridged many gaps and seemingly insurmountable walls between the various republics of the land. In a word...life was...perfect....  
  
It was boring.... utterly and completely "I'm going to claw my eyes out just for something to do!" boredom. The great general priest Sasarai found even his eternal smile slipping more and more as biting irritation cropped its head up more and more often to disturb what little peace he could find. This day being much the same as the days before as he found himself fuming and seething from within as the various higher church clergy fluttered and postured about, trying to make themselves each look more important and more responsible for this calm swell that had befallen their country.  
  
Of course they enjoyed it, with peace there was little for them to do and thus could they relax and be even more lazy then before! Stupid pompous fools! Sasarai visibly bit back a grimace and a soft growl of irritation, the faint drawing of his brows together in that fleeting scowl enough to alert Dios. His chief of staff was ever alert and attuned to Sasarai and even his odd mood swings as of late. The tine, wiry man leaned forward, his voice a low murmur pitched just for Sasarai's ears. "Are you well, Lord Sasarai? You seem out of sorts....." A tactful way to describe the pinched, slightly strained look the youthful priest's face had taken on. His sandy brown hair, which was normally immaculate and neat, was awry and mussed from impatient hands raking through them, that restless gesture betraying him once more as a slender hand rose to perform that now familiar gesture.  
  
"Yes......" Sasarai sighed and shook his head, those clear green eyes shadowing before he abruptly stood from his hair in such a manner as to almost dislodge poor Dios from his seat. "Gentlemen...if you will excuse me...." His unexpected motion had shocked the posturing and tittering men into silence long before his shocking words reached their ears....one...did not just stand up in the middle of a council session and say you were leaving! The look of shock and outrage on some of the council members face was enough to even evoke a small shimmer of wry amusement in Sasarai's heart, almost making the hell he would no doubt have to pay later for this little spectacle worth it. But really...truly....who out of the pompous old men was going to stop him? "Dios will carry on in my stead...."  
  
"B...Bishop...." The flummoxed Dios was unable to truly protest as his superior simply bowed curtly before turning with a soft rustle of azure fabric to hurry for doorway and exit from this stuffy room. The moment he was out of the room, Sasarai's mood began to lighten by small fractions and by the time he'd actually made it to the small refuge of his own personal quarters, he actually felt a pale ghost of peace settle over him. News did indeed travel swiftly through the Circle Palace in almost magickal ways for by the time he'd returned to his rooms, Sasarai found a chilled pitcher of his favorite fruit drink and a light luncheon awaiting him, no doubt left by one of his servants before the thoughtful creature had made itself scarce.  
  
Sasarai momentarily felt a burst of warm appreciation for his servants, mentally making note to add a more generous bonus to their stipends the next upcoming church holiday. He poured himself a generous glass of the chilled drink before freeing himself from the stifling and stiff over jacket of his office. With a grimace he carelessly tossed the garment aside, enjoying the cool wash of the mild afternoon air as it slipped through the opened windows to pleasantly lift the light linen of his undershirt. Ah air...freedom....if only for ten minutes he was free of his duties and that blasted uniform.  
  
One would think that after a few centuries he'd grow used to the stifling layers and ceremonial trappings of his office for while it was helpful at times, it still made for awful wearing during a twelve hour strait session of the church bishops. His boots were soon kicked off in a similar fashion, socks following to leave him delightfully bare-foot and cool in the face of that pleasant breeze. He carried the tray with it's delicacies and drink toward the balcony doors of his apartments, pausing in the open doorway for a brief moment to enjoy the glorious view his particularly tiered apartments offered him of the city.  
  
The afternoon sun was slowly gliding towards it's demise and eventual surrendering of the day to the night, lighting across those light brown strands to pick up the individual glints of chestnuts and golds in his hair. How long had it been since he simply enjoyed the sun on his face....indulged in simply lying in bed till noon and staring off into space in pleasant daydreams? Beyond recall, that was for certain. Truth of the matter was...he was long over due for a vacation. A musing look crossed that youthful face as he toyed with the idea...why shouldn't he take a short vacation? Peace reigned in that country if only for a short period....he most certainly had earned one with his constant work over the past few years...why not indeed....?  
  
Wariness tugged at the edges of his mind as he moved to sit on the crystalline bench situated beneath the cool, arching branches of the sweetly flowered fruit trees that filled his small domain of peace and tranquility. Yes...a vacation would be most welcome...no more stolen minutes and hours...just a small eternity stored in a matter of days just for himself. A wistful little sigh passed his lips as he set the tray on the bench beside him. A mighty yawn rose in his throat as he stretched surprisingly well-toned arms high above his head in a mighty and luxurious stretch that left his stiff and tired muscles feeling warm and delightful for a moment.  
  
The light shown favorably across his form and that youthfully handsome face as silken strands of hair as they feathered in shining wings across soft cheeks that had never truly lost the gentle roundness of childhood to give that youthful mien a sweet air to it. Not that he minded particularly since there were none in the Holy Kingdom of Harmonia who didn't at least know his name if not his face. A fact that often brought a chagrined look to his face now that he thought about it for he was not as oblivious to the giggling gossiping of the various chambermaids and servants. He knew he cut a handsome figure but really...he was older then their ancestors!  
  
Even thinking about that brought a faint flush to his cheeks and he grimaced faintly in dismay before turning his attention to his lunch. The cool juice helped to calm the flush to his cheeks as he sipped from the chilled glass in a slow, savoring manner. Ahh...the simple pleasures in life...it was a shame he hadn't the time to truly enjoy them anymore. In fact he was so utterly enwrapped in enjoying the light meal and drink that he didn't even notice the faint rustling in the rose bushes lining the edge of his private garden.  
  
It was actually the soft sound of animal distress, a little mewl of pain that broke through the pleasant spell of serenity he'd woven about himself to bring him back once more to the real world. A dark frown lit upon his features for a moment before fading away with a heavy sigh as he set the glass aside so that he could turn his full attention to the bushes. Clear, translucent green eyes narrowed fractionally as he peered intently through the thick green of the leaves to catch the soft spots of dove grey and white-blond as it peeked through the nest of thorns and leaves. He could see one pale crystalline blue eye peer at him from the bush and he was taken aback to realize that a child had intruded upon his secret garden.  
  
"Hello there little one...." His voice took on a gentle, coaxing tone as mystified amusement flit through him...out of the hundreds of people in the Circle Palace, this tiny little child had managed to breech his inner sanctum...he didn't know whether to be bemused or worried. Whatever the case however, the little creature had obviously found itself in a predicament by trapping themselves amidst the prickly barbs of the roses. "You're stuck in there aren't you...." His trademark smile curved his lips as he slid to his feet, those bared toes sinking into the lush grass as he walked across the small grove to approach the bushes.  
  
His assumptions were proven correct as he found himself staring down at the wide-eyed figure of a small girl as she sat huddled and frozen in the middle of the bushes. Her pale skin was scratched in a multitude of places, dirt smeared across the bridge of that pert nose as the child peered up at him in anxious uncertainty. She knew she wasn't supposed to be here and the arrival of the man into her secret hideout had forced her into brambles in hope of escaping detection. Sasarai smiled gently and reached into roses, heedless of the thorns. He could sense the angry grumbling of the roses through his rune and his smile took a wry turn.  
  
The thorns were merciless all the same, roses after all being known for their cruel vanity and merciless vengeance against any who dare trespass too closely to them. They snagged and caught in his shirt as he leaned in close, his face all but planted into the flowers as he reached for the child. "It's alright little one, just hold onto me and we'll get you out of here..." The child did as bidden for she was anxious to be free of the horrific thorns even in the threat of being in trouble....again....tiny arms slide about Sasarai's neck in a sweetly trusting manner and he gathered the child carefully in his arms to lift her safely from the thorns as carefully as he could.  
  
She made no sound as one particularly vicious set of thorns raked a painful trail along her bare leg though Sasarai was alerted to her distress by the abrupt stiffening of the child in his arms before she curled into a little ball, unintentionally curling into his arms. He paused long enough to free her from the thorns and soon enough they were both clear of the rosebushes, the little child daring to peek up as he fully straitened. "There now...that wasn't so bad now was it?" It Dios or the various other members of his staff had happened to come across the pair right now, they would have been shocked speechless at the cheerful manner the highest ranking priest beneath Hikusaak was handling the bedraggled little waif.  
  
"Nuu....t'ank yuu....." Her voice was the high, sweet reedy tones of a toddler, the lisp of babyhood still holding sway over her words as he was gifted with a gap-toothed smile. "I'm Sewa....." He'd saved her from the biting plants and was nice to her and to her child's mind that translated him to a friend. "Whas your name?" Those large liquid blue eyes were so wide and innocent as she smiled up at him, the troubles of the world a passing thought at best to her innocent thoughts and the warrior priest found even his heart melting a bit in response to her quiet radiance.  
  
He awkwardly shifted her in his arms to cradle that tiny body in a more comfortable manner before grinning down at the child. "My name is Sasarai....it's a pleasure to meet you Sera...." Rich amusement lit those pale emeralds, sending them dancing and glittering in that sweet visage in a way that had not been seen in many a year. "Are you alright, little Sera? Should we take you to a healers?" His knowledge of children was vague and limited and he had no idea what sort of physical limitations they might have...the idea was rather....intimidating actually...they seemed so...delicate so....breakable and tiny. The little girl shook her head solemnly, those willow-wisp strands of white-blond hair flying freely about her face.  
  
"Nuu...I fine...." She smiled again in that oh so sweet and trusting manner before leaning upwards to kiss him on his cheek, unintentionally leaving a smear of dirt across that gently curved visage. "T'ank yuu Sas'rai...." His eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected kiss before a warm smile curved his lips in answer, gentle eyes studying that dirty yet still heartbreakingly sweet visage. There was something hauntingly familiar about her features, the ghost of a remembrance in his mind though of what he couldn't quite place his finger on. She was truly a beautiful child with those luminous crystal blue eyes that stared out so trustingly upon the world, that downy head of pale, pale silvered blond hair almost washed white in the light as they fell in soft tendrils about her face.  
  
"You're most welcome little one but come...we should get you cleaned up no?" His suggestion was met with a look of utter disgust and dismay as the child flailed slightly in his arms. "Nuu! Nuu baf!!" He laughed quietly at her indignant cries and moved to sit her at his place upon the bench. "Alright...no bath...but stay here a moment and I'll go get a fresh cloth to at least clean you up a bit? We don't want you to get sick do we?" His look of wide-eyed dismay and fear was comically exaggerated as he looked down at the suddenly mystified child who shook her head. "Okay....then I'll be right back!" He hopped nimbly to his feet and hurried back inside the apartments to fetch a small basin of water and a small pile of clean bandages he kept out of habit in his bathroom.  
  
"You must be a brave girl to sit in those nasty roses and not even cry...." He murmured with gentle warmth as he soaked the edges of one of the bandages in the water before capturing one tiny leg with his hand to hold it still as he dabbed gently at her wounds. "I wish I'd been as brave and clever as you when I was a kid...." She didn't seem to find his wide- eyed look of wistfulness out of place though it would have been comical to anyone else....the great and powerful Lord Sasarai having reduced himself to tending the wounds of the tiny little waif that had broken into his personal garden....it was most singular and particular that was for certain.  
  
"I not bwave...I din wan get in troubu...." She admitted with an odd solemnity as she lay still there, perched carefully on the edge of that crystalline bench as the mage treated her wounds with a surprising tenderness. Sasarai smiled softly, those soft green depths peering up at her from beneath those dark lashes as his hands moved in gentle motions to clean both the dirt and the clotted and dried blood that had sluggishly seeped through the skin in places.  
  
"There are many forms of bravery little one..and I think that you..are indeed a most singular and special child..tell me.where are your parents? I see you're wearing temple robes.are they clerics here?" At his gentle, but thoughtless words, the child wilted, a small look of shame crossing her face as those dandelion soft curls fell across her cheeks. Where once a sweet and delightful child had sat, without warning a withdrawn and dark eyed young girl stared off into a middle ground.  
  
"Dey went to da next world .da nice people take care of me.dey say Imma be a pwiest someday.." She murmured softly, her brows knitting together in a frown. "Da other kids dun like me...dey say I'm weird and dey throw rocks at me.." Those shimmering blue eyes looked up at Sasarai, a painfully vulnerable look in those crystalline depths as she stared at him. "You don't t'ink I'm weird do yuu?" The priest's eyes clouded and he shook his head slowly, a slender hand dwarfing her shoulder to awkwardly offer comfort.  
  
"No little one.I don't think you're weird at all..actually..you know kids used to make fun of me too because I didn't have parents like you.." He gently scooped her up in his lap, snuggling her there just because it felt strangely right to feel that tiny weight curl so trustingly in his lap. Heh..how odd.he never really considered him the parental figure.indeed the idea of truly settling down with anyone, even without the looming fact of eminent death for them as he lived on as young as always, had never occurred to him. Children had never interested him, nor had the idea of continuing a familial line he knew nothing about. But suddenly.it did..or perhaps it was just with this one special child.an obviously excluded and lonely youth who'd no doubt shown early potential for the magickal arts just as himself to have been accepted so readily into the church. She..was just like him.the idea was a bit humbling and frightening.but he'd never had anyone to turn to.every adult had kept him at a cool arms length so as not to distract him from his studies.and look where it had gotten him..  
  
"Sera.if you ever need a friend or just someone to talk to.you can come visit me.." He offered tentatively, one graceful hand rising to comb softly through those willow-wisp strands of silvered blond. The child looked up at him with wide eyes, a look of shimmering adoration and hope gleaming oh so brightly there as she looked to him.  
  
"Y.Yuu mean it? I can.rewwy? Oh Sas'rai! Yuu my bestess fwiend in da whole wide wowrd!" She squealed as she wrapped her arms about his neck, hugging him tightly like the attention starved child she was. He smiled an odd, bittersweet little smile and gently clasp her back.  
  
"Yes little one..I promise.and if you ever have trouble seeing me." He reached beneath the finely woven linen of his shirt to pull out a delicately wrought necklace, the glittering silver pendant that hung from those delicate links glittering and refracting the light. Nestled in a bed of silver the enameled symbol of the true earth rune shown in rich golds and browns. "See this..this signifies my station.see how I have that marking on my hand?" He held up his hand so she could see the runemark on the back of that slender hand and those wide blue eyes stared intently at it with open curiousity.  
  
"Whass that?" She breathed, catching his hand in her much tinier ones to peer at the marking much closely. "Dat looks famiwier.." Her words got a soft smile from him and he tugged his hand free gently so he could clasp the necklace about her neck  
  
"It's something called the true earth rune.I'll explain about it later how about? I'll tell you a tale about a boy who was very similar to you and how he woke a great power that changed his life forever.but for now.keep the necklace with you and don't show it to anyone unless you need to see me. It's not something to be taken lightly, little Sera.do you think you can handle such responsibility?"  
  
She nodded excitedly, happy and delighted to have been given such a pretty necklace and to have been treated like such a grownup! "You pwomise to tewl me next time?" He laughed quietly once more, having laughed more in the last hour then he had in the past year.  
  
"Yes you have my solemn promise.however now I hear someone calling for you." And indeed.in the distance.someone was.the faint testiness of the young acolyte's tone was obvious to Sasarai's ears and he stood once more with the child in his arms. "You should get back to the priests before they worry about you.and Sera.remember...keep close watch of the necklace and only use it when you need to..I'm sure a pixie such as yourself won't have to use it to find your way back to my garden again, hmmmn?" He playfully beeped her nose as they reached the doors of his apartment and he set her down gently before peeking mischievously out the door. "Alright..those cost is clear..you head back to the dormitories alright?"  
  
"I will..t'ank you Sas'rai.." She hugged his leg gently, unable to reach any other part of him before scuttling off with surprising speed on those tiny little legs to hurry down the corridor. Sasarai watched her go with a mingling of bemusement and outright chagrined surprise.what had come over him..? The little pixie had obviously bewitched him.he smiled an odd little smile once more and shut his door. He felt better.more light hearted and simply content then he had before.how.curious.the warrior priest shrugged slightly before turning away once more to walk back to his gardens to finish his meal with a much lighter heart and perhaps even a less grim outlook on life. 


	4. Chapter Three: Unhappy Realizations and ...

A/N: Mouuuu..I'm sorry about the massive delay between chapters but I've been sick as a dog for the past week and a half and when I *wasn't* curled up under my covers, work was being eviiiiiiiiiiil and making me work.-.-;  
  
On another note: As people can tell I'm taking certain.artistic licenses with things and alas for Harmonian society it shall be the same way. I fear my own somewhat bitter and cynical views on Christianity and the Catholic church in general are showing through here as I'm loosely basing how I *think* the Harmonian church would be run off of it. But since I've yet to find any real information on Harmonian church society and lifestyles in general aside from the basics.I'm sort of winging it as I go along. So forgive me if you think I'm making them all out to be corrupt jerks..^_^;;  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Days flowed swiftly in the Holy Kingdom of Harmonia, the sweet days of summer slowly bleeding into fall to turn the trees a motley tapestry of reds and gold that carpeted the ground in it's fiery wealth. A tempered manner had come across the previously mercurial Sasarai, a disposition that few had missed nor failed to mark. The courts were writhe with whispered rumors and speculations ranging a wide spectrum. From a hidden lover to perhaps some form of exterior control or even a slow descent into madness.  
  
There was little to do in Harmonia these days and the people found themselves with an excess of peace and time, a fertile breeding ground for the imagination. Whenever the more wild and outrageous a rumor reached his ears, the warrior priest's smile merely slipped upwards a notch in a maddening smile of ironic amusement that gave nothing away.  
  
His sporadic visits from the impish little Sera were cherished and held with the utmost security. Once more he was thankful for his contrary ways at keeping his privacy and council that kept untimely visitors from his doorstep. As refreshing as the youthful child's visits were, deep down, Sasarai knew he gained a certain degree of devilment and amusement at the wild speculations running about the city and various religious courts. And of course of the various gentry's shocked dismay to learn that the influence of one small child could work such a change upon the previously grim and ill-tempered priest.  
  
Oh yes indeed.... the expression upon their faces would be most priceless indeed. Amusing himself as he sat in front of the crackling fire burning cheerily in the marble hearth, he stared into the flames as the light bathed warmly across his cheeks; the faint scent of sweet wood smoke mixed with smoldering herbs a gentle perfume in the air. At the faint scratch of tiny fingers on the glass of his balcony doors, he turned in his seat to stare at the faintly outlined figure of Sera.  
  
A look of surprise flit across his features as he noted her clad in naught but the patched white nightgowns giving to all temple wards. That perhaps, while unnerving, was nothing compared to the quickly rising bruise marking one side of her tear-streaked visage. The night held a bitter bite to it that he'd noted all too well when he'd traveled through the corridors to his quarters. The wine glass clattered to the ground in a shattering of expensive crystal as he surged from his chair.  
  
The ruby liquid pooled across tiles as he yanked the doors open swift enough to rattle the panes as the doors slammed painfully against the adjoining walls. The expression of dismayed shock brought a fresh sheen of tears to those pale crystalline eyes as she looked up at him. "They threw rocks at me....." Was all she managed to get out before she was scooped up into blue clad arms.  
  
She was carried inside, bundled in protective arms as she was carried towards the fire. Sasarai would find more cuts and scrapes where the group of vicious children had wounded her with sharp rocks. She was different and she was special.... it was she who was allowed to get away with far more them they themselves were and even at such young ages, the green-eyed monster of envy grew strong and swift. She scared them and she angered them because she showed such talent for the magickal arts. This all came tumbling out in a tumult of tears and tiny sobs.  
  
Sasarai listened silently, a cold burning anger tempered by the pained sorrow being the only thing that kept him from seeking out the headmaster of the temple orphanage to call the man to pay for his inattention. He had to treat her first...had to bring some peace to her heart and once the blood had been cleaned away he accessed the power of the Flowing rune. It reacted oddly to the crying girl even as it's magick wrought its soft healing upon the utterly oblivious child as she curled into his robed lap.  
  
"There now....shhh....shhh, sweet Sera....it's alright now...come now...why the tears, hmmn?" He playfully bounced her as a soft nuzzle found her cheek. The bruising was already beginning the face, the swelling slowly draining away. Where an angry mask of darkening blues and purples, the sweet lines of her cheeks were slowly peeking out from beneath the now greening and yellowed skin. "The pain is gone...see? Don't cry now....come now..." the helplessness of any male when faced with the wounded hurt of a crying child was an alien feeling to him. It....unmanned him and left him in an odd state of dismay and helplessness for want to protect her and ease the pain that caused such tears to well in her eyes.  
  
Once more, he was bemused by the strange bond that had formed between them even as he marveled at the strength of it and thus did he begin to feel the first stirrings of unease. He lived under no illusions that anyone who got too close to him could become the pawn of anyone who might wish to manipulate or hurt him. "Sera....don't cry little one...I'll keep you safe, I promise....they'll never hurt you again...." His soft tenor voice was low and pitched quietly as the shadows grew in his eyes. Already he began to formulate a plan to keep her safe as those tender hands stroked and soothed her back.  
  
Those softly whispered words of comfort and gentle support lulled her into a tired silence. Her eyes were tired and burning from so much crying and like the child she was, the exhaustion and tolls of her crying spell begin to extract its price over her. With a sleepy mewl she snuggled deeper into his embrace, burrowing into the warmth of his lap as he sat in the fire-warmed velvet of his chair. He waited until she was deeply asleep, those moody green eyes studying the peaceful visage of the resting child as she lay curled oh so contently and trustingly in his lap.  
  
No...he did not dare risk letting her become a pawn or a tool against him for he found the idea of watching her slowly being stripped of her innocence and the very vigor that made up what she was suddenly sickening and terrifying. Those youthful features grew set and grim as a regretful sorrow glittered in translucent emeralds as he picked the child up, carrying her through his apartments to nestle her protected in the feathered down of his bed. Those pale platinum strands of wispy silvered blond hair pooled across his pillow as one tiny cheek burrowed into the welcoming softness of his sheets in that endearingly sweet manner that laid his pain open freshly anew.  
  
The man who had never once flinched from his duty suddenly found himself suddenly hesitant and weakly resolved as he stared down at the angelic form of the child. But then with a regretful sigh, he shook that silken head of pale golden brown before leaving the room behind to summon Dios to his quarters. And in a mere handful of minutes, the flustered looking man was at his door; a look of open confusion on his face. "You summoned me, eminence?" His breath was unsteady in his throat as the winded man leaned against the doorframe for support.  
  
Sasarai was dressed in the full uniforms of his office, the look of cold efficiency one that sent chills down Dios' spine as the bishop looked to him. And indeed, the low notes of ice that thread its way into his voice only unnerved the man further. "I do not pretend to hold your complete loyalty, Dios. I know ours is a relationship of convenience and for the most part it is mutually beneficial wouldn't you say?" His tone was musing as he looked away to peer at the dying flames that crackled in his heath.  
  
"I...I suppose, your eminence....is there a reason for this odd line of questioning or are you truly loosing your mind as the rumors say?" Only Dios could get away with such a direct line of questioning and despite his ironic words, a glint of curious concern glinted in his eyes as he peered at the priest. Those oddly resolved and flinty green eyes flit back to his advisor.  
  
"I've a mission of utter secrecy and importance for you to carry out, Dios....I can trust in your discretion of course?" At Dios' solemn nod, Sasarai turned away from the fire to walk towards the closed doors of his apartment. "It's come to my attention that one of the most promising of the temple's children has been neglected and exposed to cruel treatment. Just this evening I had to treat wounds caused by the rocks thrown by her own companions and supposed friends. I will not let such a light be extinguished...not when it is in my power to do something about it." One slender hand extended to push the doors open so that Dios could see the child resting in his bed.  
  
"B...But she's but a babe!" he gasped out, eyes wide with shock and then confusion as he looked to Sasarai. "I don't understand how I can be of assistance, sir...."  
  
"I've estates outside the city...I want you to convey her there in secret and personally see that she is settled in. I will set up a nanny and a proper tutor for her immediately of course. She's in dire need of a good education and I doubt she'll learn much of anything if rock fights are allowed amongst the ranks of the temple orphans...." A note of icy disdain colored his voice and Dios suddenly found himself fervently glad that he had nothing to do with the orphanage. Somehow he got the distinct impression that the proverbial heads were going to roll once Sasarai was done....yes...he was most happy to have no affiliations to that part of the church. "No one is to know I house her, Dios....I would not see her abilities abused or exploited by the more....ambitious of our ranks, yourself excluded of course...." He was gifted with a dry little smile and a dismissive gesture of one elegant hand.  
  
"Of course not, your grace...what use is a child to me after all..." Dios answered a bit stiffly as he half-bowed, his ill-mannered hair falling across his brow and into his eyes in its maddening way. His words got a short note of brittle amusement from the priest as he moved into the room, gathering the tiny bundle of the child tenderly in his arms. The azure blue of his blankets was carried with the child to turn her small form into a swaddling bundle of sky blue.  
  
"It's not that she's a child, Dios...it's what she can become...with the proper guidance....she will do great things if given the chance." The soft expression glittering in his eyes confused Dios even more as the child was held out to him. Years of experience with his own children however took effect as he gathered the precious bundle close to his chest as those too wise and piercing eyes met with translucent green.  
  
"Your affection for her is telling...perhaps given the times...it is best to distance ourselves from all attachments...." Sasarai nodded somberly, those dark fans falling to feather across his cheeks and hide suddenly glistening eyes beneath protective lids. "But....if the child cares as strongly for you as you seem to care for her....I don't think she will understand...so is there anything I should tell her for you?" Hikusaak bless him he'd totally forgotten about such things! Sera wouldn't understand what she was being sent away!  
  
"Y...Yes actually....give me a moment if you'd please, Dios....." He whirled away with a soft flare of azure fabric to hurry over to his writing desk. There a letter was penned in his careful and neat handwriting. He tried to express his feelings and reasons for sending her so far away in that hastily written letter, the words plain and lacking it's usual flourished language and poetic lyric. Soon enough it was sealed with the sapphire blue of his office, his own personal seal marking the wax as he held out the letter to the man. "Tell her...that I wish for her to learn how to defend herself from the world in all manner of ways and that the key to that is within knowledge. Tell her that when she is able to read my letter then perhaps she will be ready to return home and that I...." he faltered then, his hands curling slightly as pain carved his face. "Tell her that I shall look forward to continuing our talks once more and that I shall miss her dearly...."  
  
Dios nodded solemnly, a sympathetic light glinting in his eyes as he looked at the suddenly distraught looking priest. For all his posturing and bluffing, he truly did care for the man who sheltered him beneath his wing and name. Though Sasarai did not know it, or perhaps refused to acknowledge it but he did hold Dios' complete loyalty no matter what. "It shall be done...." That grave murmur filled the sudden silent room and he hugged the child closer, the letter being secreted away amongst the fold of her blanket. "Perhaps......perhaps we might offer her some hope of you visiting every now and again sir....while you haven't made it a habit of returning to your estates in the past...." A sardonic little smile curved Dios' lips then, a glint of cagey intelligence glittering in those dark depths. "Your moods have been known to fluctuate lately...perhaps a bit of rustication is what you need to set you back to sorts, hmmn?  
  
His suggestion was met with the first shining glint of laughter and Sasarai grinned in understanding. Some of the black despair that had descended about him fell away and he nodded his approval. "Why yes...I do think you might be right, Dios...." He looked as innocent as an angel though those pale green eyes betrayed the devilment shining just beneath the surface as he clapped the man on the back. "Now hurry...we can't have you disappearing for too long now can we? Whatever shall I do without your sage advice...?  
  
"Heh....indeed....." Was all the amused man said as he made his way to the door and the hallway beyond. "You'd be fair lost without me I imagine...." And with that, he was gone, the bundled child securely asleep in his arms. Sasarai watched them go silently, a mournful expression glimmering in his eyes as they departed, and with a sigh, he too disappeared into his quarters. 


	5. Chapter Four: An Unusual Correspondence

Deer Sasarai,  
  
I have been vary vary good!! Malena says I am vary good at righting and reeding! I dont like the math...it's no fun at all but the magic class is my favarite!  
  
When will yuo come sea me again?  
  
I miss yuo a lot and I want to come home soon.....  
  
Luve,  
  
Sera  
  
The youthful priest smiled softly as he read over the letter from his secret ward once more, amusement and a soft bubble of laughter to shimmer through him. It had been a while since he'd allowed himself to really laugh though his eternal smile remained. Centuries of practice kept that amiable expression on his face though as of late he'd found himself slipping further and further into ennui and a dark depression. For now, the shadows of depression were forced back and he basked in the warmth of the amusement her letter conjured within him as he leaned back in his chair.  
  
"Too cute...." Came his soft murmur as he set the wrinkled paper to the side to look over the rest of the paper's that had come with the packet from his estates. Progress reports from Malena, the talented cleric who'd been assigned to him for the past three decades. He knew he could trust her to be discreet just as he knew the instincts of being a grandmother to five added onto the three children she herself had raised making her the perfect candidate to oversee Sera's education. The motherly elder had nothing but praise for the bright child who'd been placed under her care.  
  
Sera was polite with a sweet disposition and a natural flare for the magickal arts that almost baffled the poor woman as well as retaining an intelligence and awareness that was often shocking. "....nothing will remain a secret around this little one for long, that is for certain...." She admitted in her letter. Sasarai smiled wryly and nodded to himself, understanding all too well the tutor's chagrin for he himself had been on the wrong end of the child's precocious perceptiveness more then once.  
  
Beneath the progress report was an obviously painstakingly painted picture Sera had made, obviously a portrait of himself, and that soft smile curved his lips once more before it died away with a sigh of regret. He did want to escape from the confines of the Crystal Valley for a while but he knew that such a thing would be impossible at this time and that he'd simply have to make do with monitoring Sera's upbringing from afar for now at least. The picture was tenderly set to rest with the rest of the various drawings Sera had sent to him over the course of the two years that she'd been living in exile on his estate.  
  
He'd seen the precocious five year old himself three months before and had been shocked at the change wrought upon her. The tiny little toddler he remembered was gone, a slender and gangling little girl already showing promise of great beauty with her downy silvered-blond hair and those sweet crystal-blue eyes that could gleam like the ocean at midday when she was laughing and happy, an attitude he was relieved to know she often presented to the world around her. She was a happy child, well cared for and cosseted by her beloved nanny/tutor. Though Sasarai often showered her with gifts and all but her every wish, her nature was unspoiled by selfishness or greed. Indeed, she rarely asked for anything, much to everyone's surprise, as she seemed perfectly content with the way things were....well...save for one thing....she wanted to be with her Sasarai...  
  
Dear Sera,  
  
I'm delighted to learn you're doing so well and I promise to come see you as soon as I can escape from my duties long enough for an extended vacation. Malena has nothing but praise to say for you and I'm very, very proud of all the progress you've made. If you're doing this well around winter's eve I'll see about bringing you here for the holiday season. As soon as you're a little older, it will be safe to bring you back permanently but so long as you don't have complete control of your gifts, it's not safe....  
  
I miss you and have faith...we'll be together soon enough I promise...keep up the good work and never forget how proud you make me.....  
  
Love,  
  
Sasarai  
  
The letter was sent back to with the same messenger that had brought the missives from his estates. A purse of gold was sent with it to see to their needs and add to the savings he'd started for Sera. He wanted her to be able to stand on her own independently when she reached of age. While he wanted her to join the holy orders of Harmonia, he wasn't going to leave her penniless if she decided to follow some other vocation in life.  
  
His thoughts were interrupted before they could travel further down that grim path by the soft creak of a body settling into one of the chairs placed in front of his desk. He immediately thought of Dios and glanced up, the beginnings of a frown curving his brow as his mouth opened to deal the poor man a rebuke. But the words froze in his throat as he found himself staring into a pair of tired, but amused looking aqua eyes as they glittered from those leanly handsome visage. "Becoming a regular father figure aren't you?" That rich baritone voice was warm and alight with amusement.  
  
Sasarai frowned at the man though the severity of his look was spoiled by the smile curving his lips, the wry expression crossing his features as he studied the blond man. "So....is there anything that we can't keep from you, Nash?" One brown brow rose in a sardonic manner that merely got a smile from the man opposite him as he leaned back in his chair. The firelight glinted across the sun-gilt gold of his hair as it fell in a messy mane about his face. The years had added a few more lines to his face, added a spider webbing of wrinkles around those glittering aqua depths and treaded grey through those glinting gold locks.  
  
"No...not much I suppose..." Nash admitted with a faint little smile as those too sharp aqua eyes watched the nervous movements of Sasarai's hands when they moved to try and cover Sera's pictures under a sheaf of papers. "You won't be able to keep her a secret for long you know....your trips out to your estates are not as quiet as you'd like them to be. In all fairness it was damned hard to figure out just what has been going on here since the various amount of rumors and speculation make it hard to keep the facts in sight." His words did not please Sasarai, that much was obvious from the darkening of those clear emerald eyes as he scowled at Nash, a definite note of wariness in his eyes as he looked the spy over.  
  
"And just what is your interest in what I do with my time, Latkje...." Uh oh...you knew you were in trouble when someone called you by your last name. Nash winced a bit as unwelcome memories of his time spent in the lovely piece of hell on earth called the Howling Voice Guild and he raised his hands in a sign of supplication.  
  
"Whoa whoa....I didn't come here to pick a fight...I just....want to help is all...." He sighed softly, raking a hand through his hair with a grimace as he tried to find a way to undo the damage his words had already done. "Look.....I owe you for helping with my sister and no doubt a dozen other things I'm not going to bother trying to name....point of fact is...I owe you. So don't get huffy with me when I try to point out how ineffective your attempts at secrecy have been. I am just trying to help after all...." Sasarai sighed softly, a grimace of his own crossing his face as he settled back into his chair.  
  
"You're right of course, forgive my bad manners...." He cocked his head to the side as he peered at the blond curiously. "Are you hungry? Should I have some refreshment brought up?"  
  
"Considering I want to keep this meeting as secret as possible...I think I'll pass...." That wry little smile of amusement curled his lips as he looked toward the crackling fire as it cast warmth across them both. "Why are you hiding her? If you don't mind me asking...?"  
  
Sasarai blinked at the abrupt shift in subject but could only shrug helplessly, shoulders rising and falling in a small manner, that youthful visage growing troubled as his gaze followed Nash's. "You know what it's like to grow up here....she's go great potential for the arts and I just didn't want her to be taken advantage of...." Those suddenly sharp emeralds looked back at Nash, brows knitting together briefly. "I'm not a fool, nor am I blind...I know how ruthless the church can be when they want something." He was speaking from personal experience, his normally cheerful and light tone grim and solemn. "I just want to protect her until she's able to do so for herself"  
  
"Fair enough....." He wasn't going to ask why Sasarai was only just now taking an interest in the children of the country. "No one suspects you're harboring a child so she's safe from that at least. But there are rumors...mostly that you're keeping some lover there and so forth...I'm afraid people with such a...auspicious rank as yourself have no real secrets from the people..." He waved one hand in a negligent manner, one leg crossing across the other in a manner that would have appeared feminine on anyone who managed to look a bit less languid and feline as he sat in his chair.  
  
"Tell me something I don't know...." came the priest's droll, bitingly sarcastic remark as those moody green eyes peering off into nowhere before finally looking back at Nash. There was a sharp glint in his eyes and the smile that curved his lips was a bit too predatory to be truly welcoming as he watched the other man. "Well now...since you've apparently got more then your fair share of criticisms about how I'm carrying this whole thing off, I don't suppose you've got some recommendations or advice to add to this lecture, hmmmn?" One pale brown brow rose in a sardonic manner before he sighed, some of the cool scrutiny draining from his body as he simply sagged there in his seat, suddenly feeling the endless centuries of his life all at once. Gods help him, he was an old man....a tired ancient with the face of a youth and shockingly little to show for his life save for what he'd done within his church. "Anything you have to offer.....would be appreciated...." Came his soft sigh after a drawn out eternity that was only broke by the cracking of logs within the fire.  
  
"Well now.....I think you should ask yourself how you wish to spin the subject of this girl suddenly appearing out of the blue as your ward....the only ward you would have officially taken on in all your years in office." Sasarai made as if to say something but the blond man merely held up one elegant hand in a soft gesture for silence, clearly bespeaking that he wasn't done quite yet. "People are going to ask questions...why the sudden interest in the children of the church? Why this girl in particular...and...." he paused then, teeth catching his lower lip in an unconscious musing manner as those golden brows drew together briefly in a frown. "And....as I know you're no doubt certain, there will be some...those who are...jealous of you and your rank that will try to use her against you. Or to at least woo her away from your side for any young woman who's so spectacular as to catch your eye...well she must be truly unique indeed, hmmn? And some will no doubt seek to control whatever power she has for their own ends."  
  
"And don't forget just outright killing her off so that she'll be of no use to anyone not to mention the side effect of certain people enjoying watching me suffer a little more...." His bitter remark was greeted with a solemn nod from Nash as he tapped a beat out atop the arm of his chair. "I *know* I have enemies here, Nash....I *know* there are certain people that think I've long outgrown my usefulness and no doubt that some of them even hate me. It's a bit hard to live as long as I have without stepping on a few toes every now and then." The grim faced rune bearer scowled and raked both hands through his hair in a frustrated manner, further mussing those honeyed brown locks to send them rakishly spilling across his forehead. "And I *know* that anyone who is close to me could very well be walking with a large target on their back. But what *can* I do!? Hide her away until she's old and grey...that would merely be cheating her of the life she deserves! And I haven't the heart nor the true desire to send her away. Perhaps it's selfish of me...perhaps even bigoted and just down right old fashioned of me but I don't want to see a child of Harmonia be fostered outside our borders to become....something other then Harmonian..... especially one as talented as Sera!"  
  
Nash simply let him vent, sensing the priest needed this small bit of openness more then even Sasarai realized. He'd sprung to his feet, suddenly as tense as a spring and as restless as a hunting cat. The end of his impassioned speech found him standing behind his chair, hands tight and white-knuckled on the hardwood back of the comfortable furniture as those frustrated and helpless green eyes sought to find a place to rest only to find nothing soothing to the eye or to the senses. He hadn't meant to blow up like that and Gods knew he hadn't meant to blurt all that out to...well....a spy like Nash. Gah....the bloody man was right...he was no good at this subterfuge routine. "I....am sorry for that...I had no right to....subject you to such an outburst." He finally admitted with a sigh, shoulders sagging once more to lean wearily against the chair.  
  
"eh...don't worry about it....trust me I've dealt with a lot worse....outbursts from the missus at home...." A knowing smirk curved his lips, the sardonic amusement tingling those pale green eyes as he smiled, moving to climb to his feet once more. "And speaking of which...I should be getting back towards home before she sends the hounds out after me..." Nash executed a flourishing bow that was only half-playful before straitening once more with a faint smile. "You've still got plenty of time to figure out what to do with her. Let me know when you're planning on bringing her back and we can see what we can come up with together, hmmn?" That warm smile curved his lips, the sheer friendliness and camaraderie in those aqua depths taking the sting from all of his previous words. "Take care of yourself and of your little Sera, Sasarai.and don't forget.if you have need of me you know where to reach me.." A flippant little salute was given before Nash slipped away, disappearing into the shadows of his office doorway and into the hallway beyond.  
  
Sasarai sighed softly, brows furrowing together in a frown as he thought over Nash's words. There was great truth in his advice though unfortunately nothing that he himself hadn't already thought of and puzzled for many a time these past few months. He wasn't sure what he was going to do about Sera.he wasn't sure about a lot of things actually and that unnerved him. He'd always had a set plan in his life but now he found himself at a loss at what to do now. Even before he'd discovered the little imp hiding in his rose garden he'd been without any real goals in life..so the true question was..what now? 


End file.
